Whalers fall to Privateers

Chris Brodeur

Updated 11:37 pm, Saturday, January 26, 2013

DANBURY -- Held scoreless for nearly 30 minutes in front of a Saturday night crowd of 3,005, the Danbury Whalers' first goal against the Thousand Island Privateers sounded off something more than the usual bleacher-bending, foam orca-raining celebration.

It was palpable -- and very audible -- relief. And it wouldn't last.

To recap a frustrating night to that point, Matt Caranci took a puck to the face seven seconds in, the lamp was prematurely lit when Chris Atkinson hit the post some five minutes later, and when Cody Ayers finally scored a legitimate power-play goal midway through the second period, the Whalers owned an absurd 37-13 shooting advantage yet somehow trailed by a goal.

It felt like the mojo had switched sides, but a disallowed goal minutes later would be the last time the home team found the net against the brilliant Matt Anthony, who racked up 63 saves in a 5-1 Privateers victory that stopped the Whalers' win streak at three.

"If (Anthony) isn't the best goalie in the league, I don't know who is," said Whalers coach Phil Esposito. "He stood on his head, and yeah, we didn't get any breaks. But I told these guys that you have to make your own (breaks) You get rewarded when 18 guys play hard on both ends, and we didn't do that."

The Privateers padded their lead with third-period power-play goals from Kris McCarthy, Peter Campbell and Adam McAllister, a trio that combined to produce all five goals and six assists.

The Whalers, dressed in the black, white and blue of the Danbury Trashers, came out firing on Heritage Night in front of the season's largest crowd, outshooting the Privateers 25-7. Alas, a defensive breakdown allowed the visitors to score the period's only goal at 12:42, a weak-side one-timer on the doorstep by Campbell.

The rubber game in a three-game series looms at 5:05 p.m. Sunday. Locked in second place since the sudden demise of the Williamsport Outlaws, the Whalers are trying to gain on the first-place Daytona Demonz.